Safety rail for railroads



Spt. 11,1923.

3,46%69 w. P. STEWART SAFETY RAIL FOR RAILROADS Filed May 11. 1923 4/529 iQ O 9 01 I V INVZQT R 04 BY m ATTORNEY Patented Sept. ll, 1923.

UNlTEE @TATES WILLIAM PLEASANT STEWART, OF PUEBLO, COLORADO.

SAFETY RAIL FOR RAILROADS.

Application filed May 11, 1923.

To all whom it may concern c it known that I, WILLIAM PLEASANT STEWART, a citizen of the United States, re-v siding in the city of Pueblo, county of Pueblo, and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Rails for Railroads, or" which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention is in the way of a combination safety rail for railroads, and the object is to provide a form of rail having in addition to the main rail, auxiliary side rails or guards, one at each side of the main rail, so that incase the car wheels should run off of the main rail on either side, these auxiliary side rails would serve to catch the wheels and carry the cars safely until they could be brought to a stop and reloaded onto the main rails.

In the drawing gigure 1 is a. plan view of the improved rai Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 8 is an and elevation;

Figure 4 is a detail of a section of the main rail;

Figure 5 is a detail of a section of the guard rails as positioned side by side ready to receive the web of the main rail;

Figure 6 is a detail of the mortise constrnction at the rail ends;

Figure 7 is a detail of one of the keys adapted to fit into the aligned mortises of two rail ends.

In constructing this invention, a main, central rail 1 is provided having a. ball or tread portion 2 and a web 3 similar to the ordinary rail, but lacking the usual base or foot of the ordinary rail. The ends of the rail are slotted or mortised vertically as at at, these mortises being adapted to receive loclc ing keys 5 which are driven into the aligned mortises of the two abutting ends of two rails, thus locking them against lateral displacement. Guard rails6 and? are next provided, being of the same length as the main rails, so that in the constnlction of the track, the joints may be broken by overlapping the guard rails against the joints of the main rails. The guard rails are of a sort of channel iron construction, having bases 8 and 9, and upstanding inner and outer flanges 10 and 11 respectively. The inner flanges 10 are of a height just to cover the sides of the web 3 and to rest up under the Serial No. 638,205.

lower side of the ball 2, as a support therefor. The outer flanges 11 are considerably less in height, being just suflicient to hold the car wheels onto it in case of derailment from the main rail. The base 8 of the guard rail 6, which is intended to he laid toward the center of the track, is made somewhat wider than the guard rail 7, intended for the outside of the track, for the reason that in case of derailment, the base 8 of the inmost guard rail would need to be wider in order to catch the flange of the wheel. Aligned bolt slots 12 are cut through the flanges 10 and the web 3 to receive the bolts 13 which firmly lock the combination rail together. This combination rail is mounted on the ties 14 by the use of the ordinary spikes 15 driven in the ties 14 along the outer edges of the guard rails. Should cars become derailed from the main rail, the guard rails would serve to hold the wheels and prevent a serious wreck.

While I have herein described a certain specific manner and method of constructing and assembling the elements of my invention, it is understood that I may vary from the same in minor details, not departing from the spirit of my invention, so as best to construct a practical device for the pur pose intended, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A combination rail of the class described, comprising a main, central rail, including a ball portion and a. depending central web; guard rails at either side of the main rail. said guard rails being formed channel-like with. upstanding inner and outer flanges. the inner flanges being of a height suflicient to cover the interposed web of the main rail; and independent means for locking the ends of the main rails together.

2. A combination rail of the class described. comprising a main, central rail. including a ball portion and a depen fling, cen tral web, the said web having bolt slots therein; channel-like guard rails at either side of the main rail, the inner flanges thereof being of height to cover the interposed web of the main rail and having bolt slots aligned with the bolt slots of the web of the main rail.

WILLIAM PLEASANT STEWART.

Witnesses:

HARRY LEDDY, I. MAGDANEL. 

